It Took A Thief... To Leave A Lesson

DELRAY BEACH — It took a thief to teach June Torregrossa a lesson in crime prevention.

After stealing her car radio late Sunday night, the considerate bandit gave Torregrossa some advice on how not to be a repeat customer.

``Next time don`t live (sic) your door open. ``?O.K.?`` suggested a note left on the dashboard of Torregrossa`s car.

``I guess he had plenty of time to write me,`` said Torregrossa, 37. ``It`s really funny. I`m cracking up about it now.``

Police said the thief took the AM-FM stereo-cassette player from the car between 3 p.m. Sunday and 9:45 a.m. Monday. The white 1985 Chevrolet Celebrity was parked in the driveway in front of the victim`s home in the 200 block of Southeast Third Avenue. Police said the radio was worth $100.

``I came out to the car to see how much gas I had,`` Torregrossa said. ``I didn`t know what it was. I thought it was a note from my boyfriend.``

The advice was printed in ink on a torn piece of yellow legal paper and folded in quarters. The word ``leave`` is misspelled. And the upside down question mark is a Spanish punctuation mark.

The note was taken into evidence, and police will try to lift some fingerprints from it.

``It`s a lesson to people not to leave their cars unlocked,`` Delray Beach Police Sgt. Ross Licata said. ``If people would roll their windows up and keep their cars doors locked, they wouldn`t be victims of theft.``

Torregrossa said she had learned her lesson.

``Last night I had the doors locked and the porch light on,`` she said. ``But a lot of good that does me now. The damage has already been done.``